Politics (2010)

When the American-educated scion of a powerful Indian family returns to the subcontinent, his first taste of power starts him down a corrupt path.

Director:

Prakash Jha

Writers:

Prakash Jha, Anjum Rajabali

Stars:

Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar

7 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ranbir Kapoor	...	Samar Pratap
Ajay Devgn	...	Sooraj Kumar
Nana Patekar	...	Brij Gopal
Katrina Kaif	...	Indu R. Sakseria / Indu P. Pratap
Arjun Rampal	...	Prithviraj 'Prithvi' C. Pratap
Manoj Bajpayee	...	Veerendra 'Veeru' B. Pratap (as Manoj Bajpai)
Naseeruddin Shah	...	Bhaskar Sanyal
Sarah Thompson	...	Sarah Jean Collins
Nikhila Trikha	...	Bharati R. Rai / Bharati C. Pratap
Darshan Jariwala	...	Ramnath Rai
Shruti Seth	...	Rashtrawadi Party Worker
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vinay Apte	...	Babulal
Singh Bhupesh	...	Krishna
Barkha Bisht	...	Dancer
Dhananjay Galani

Storyline

Belonging to a prominent Uttar Pradesh-family of ruthless politicians, Samar Pratap is about to return to his Irish-American girlfriend, Sarah, in the U.S. and obtain a PhD, but cancels his trip when his father, Chandra, is shot dead. He decides to stay put and avenge this slaying but ends up dealing with aspiring politician, Indu Sakseria, who wants to wed him; his brother, Prithviraj, who has been granted control of the Rashtrawadi Party but is facing imprisonment on charges of Assaulting a Police Officer and Sexual Molestation; his cousin, Veerendra, who wants control of the party; and his astute maternal uncle, Brij Gopal - who secretly controls the entire family. Before he could even handle these situations, Sarah arrives in India and will soon accuse him of being a manipulative and conniving politician.

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Plot Keywords:

man wears eyeglasses | political advisor | illegitimate son | false accusation of rape | dysfunctional family | 

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Taglines:

Politics...and Beyond

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Prakash Jha wanted Manoj Bajpai to do Arjun Rampal's role. Prakash told Manoj that the role was very big. Manoj insisted he do another role as he felt the role he eventually played was more better and more challenging.

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Goofs

In the hospital where the defibrillator paddles are being used, others are still touching the patient.

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Alternate Versions

The UK release was cut, the distributor chose to make cuts to remove scenes of strong violence and injury detail in order to obtain a 12A classification. An uncut 15 classification was available.

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Connections

Featured in What About Columbus (2012)

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Soundtracks

Dhan Dhan Dharti
Written by Gulzar
Composed by Wayne Sharp
Performed by Shankar Mahadevan
Courtesy of Sony Music India

User Reviews

Better than average, but no cigar

Wife recommended this film, so I watched. Overall, a better than average flick, but no cigar. The first part of the film is definitely the meatiest part of this film, where it starts as a modern day allegory of the Mahabharata embroiled in Indian politics--very fascinating. However, where it descends to trash is the second part, when scenes are ripped off scenes from "Godfather" and "Hard Boiled", and the story climaxes into an abysmal heap of dung. Worse yet, there is some pretty nice acting from all the actors involved, including non-actress Katrina Kaif. To aspiring Indian film makers, the first half of this film is how to improve Bollywood.

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook fan page Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi English

Release Date:

4 June 2010 (India)

Also Known As:

Politics

Filming Locations:

Bhopal, India

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$850,244, 6 June 2010

Gross USA:

$1,514,558

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,459,596

Company Credits

Production Co:

Prakash Jha Productions, UTV Motion Pictures, Walkwater Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

163 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color